Wednesday 24 October 2012

Background

The writer of this letter is now speaking very directlyabout'new life in Christ', urging readers to turn their lives around andto live in a completely new way. Gentiles were those who were notJewish. Many early Christians were, in fact, Jews who had becomefollowers of Jesus Christ - they had the experience of the TenCommandments (Exodus 20) and the Torah, which is the law asgiven to Moses in Old Testament times. Gentiles neither followedthe Ten Commandments nor the Jewish law.

The Gentile way of life is pictured as being very far from whatGod wants - because of ignorance mainly. But the readers of theLetter to the Ephesians have learned a different way and have to becommitted to following it.

There are three particular commands in this passage: 

• 'put away the old ways of behaving' (v. 22) - examples areprovided of what those are
• "be renewed" (v. 23) - through the power of Christ
• "clothe yourselves with your new self" (v. 24) - in other wordsbe as God wants you to be.

It is all an enormous challenge, but it is what Jesus has taughtand shown in his life. What follows is a list of examples of justhow Christians are expected to behave (verses 25-32): be truthful;don't let anger go on for ever; don't steal; be careful what yousay; say what is good; and be kind and thoughtful to eachother.

The writer of this letter is keen that Christian faith andbelief must lead to Christian behaviour - that is abundantlyclear!

To Ponder

• Do you ever feel tempted to slip into behaviour that is notwhat God wants? In what ways does that happen?

• How do you get the strength to live in the 'new life inChrist'?